Welcome to the board! You may want to try doing a search on your topic as the pontoon boat subject has been covered quite extensively in the past. Click search on the grey bar above and enter individual searches on pontoon, scadden, osprey, skeeter, etc. You will find a wealth of information.

I have two skookum ospreys and as luck should have it they are up for sale. They are excellent boats....much better built than most out there. I have been contemplating selling tham because my son and I have not used them as much as was hoped. I have purchased the premium package (oars, oar locks, oar rights, anchor system) a little over a year ago and have only had them in the water three times. I have added many extras....

I have the Dave Scadden Roaring Fork Extreme and a good friend has the Madison River which are the 11 ft. and 9 ft models respectively. The North Fork is a new 8ft model similar in design and features to mine. I looked at them all including the Steelheaders which have a following on this board and found the Dave Scadden boats to be the best in construction, materials, quality and price. Just remember everyone has two things, one of which is on the lower posterior anatomy and the other is an opinion

I note that there are several models of the Dave Scadden boats on Christmass special including the 9ft Madison River at a price that makes it a truly great buy for a truly great boat.

I have the Dave Scadden Roaring Fork Extreme and a good friend has the Madison River which are the 11 ft. and 9 ft models respectively. The North Fork is a new 8ft model similar in design and features to mine. I looked at them all including the Steelheaders which have a following on this board and found the Dave Scadden boats to be the best in construction, materials, quality and price. Just remember everyone has two things, one of which is on the lower posterior anatomy and the other is an opinion.

I note that there are several models of the Dave Scadden boats on Christmass special including the 9ft Madison River at a price that makes it a truly great buy for a truly great boat.

Click to expand...

I've got to disagree with this one. I have the 2005 Madison River (9' model) from Scadden, and love it. It fits exactly what I'm looking for, is well constructed, solid pontoons, and Dave's customer service is great. That said, even Dave himself will tell you that his mid-ranged boats are not on par with the Skookum Osprey. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Dave's MSRP on the Madison River is $1400, everyone sells them for $1100 (normal price, not on sale), and I just picked one up for about $900 direct from him. From my understanding, the Skookum boats start at $1600 or $1700 (true price, not "msrp"), and go up from there when you start adding oars and other goodies.

They're not in the same class, and aren't typically meant to be used the same. Scadden's boats are kick boats at heart. That's how he started, and how alot of guys use them (in tandem with the oars when they need to move hard). The Skookum's, and others like that, are based on a cataraft platform. Bulletproof design and tubes, and mean for handling serious white water with alot of gear. Oh, and you can fish out of them too Just by way of example, Dave's tubes are made out of 24oz. top material, and 26oz. bottoms. More than enough for most situations, and certainly more than enough for any I'll get into. The Skookum boats are made with 100oz. tops and 150oz. bottoms. Overkill? Maybe, but you see where I'm going.

So - you'd probably be just fine with the Scadden Madison (I sure am, and I love it) - just don't make the mistake of thinking that the two boats are in the same class.